Batter Training Aid

ABSTRACT

The device takes the general shape of a batter&#39;s box, the home plate, and the foul lines. It will allow the player to train his or her swing to achieve the best results when striking a baseball or softball as it is pitched towards the plate. This portable device is lightweight but will be subjected to extremes in environment and to physical stress.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This application is a baseball training aid, and more specifically, abaseball hitting aid. One of the most difficult feats is the ability tohit a baseball as it is pitched towards a plate slightly over sixty feetaway. Pitchers have developed the ability to spin the ball in ways thatwill change the direction of the pitch and cause the pitch to move fromside to side and drop dramatically as the pitch approaches the plate.

However, to hit the ball with any effectiveness, the hitter must alsovisualize the pitch and guide the bat to contact the ball and direct theball to travel in a specific direction. While this device cannot train abatter to detect the pitch and predict movement of the ball, it cantrain the batter to guide the bat and make contact in different zones todirect the hit into different areas of play.

The fundamentals of hitting remain the same. The batter must view thepitch and maintain an appropriate stance and rotate the hips and torsoas the swing is made. The hitter should maintain eye contact on the ballas it strikes the bat.

PRIOR ART

There are many other prior references to batting training aids, and arepresentative example of this can be found at Madsen, U.S. Pat. No.3,341,199. This is a baseball home plate with strips on the corners,said strips being of contrasting colors of the top surface of the plateto permit any observation of the baseball having a color similar to thatof the stripes when passing over the stripes. This trains the batter todetect the location of the pitch.

Another reference in the prior art is Jackson, U.S. Pat. No. 7,896,759,which is a training device and method to teach directional hitting of abaseball. This device employs a series of parallel lines that consist ofa home plate zone, a plurality of equally spaced pitching lanes definedby a plurality of lines, which longitudinally cross over and throughhome plate. The current application does not employee parallel lines,but uses lines to delineate contact zones.

Another reference can be found at Lozado. This is a specific applicationto teach bunting techniques, including appropriate foot placement priorto a bunt. Another reference can be found at Jarvis, U.S. Pat. No.9,468,829, which is a device to teach the mechanics of a swing but doesnot use a home plate.

Another reference can be found at Trucks, U.S. Patent publication U.S.2006/0142099. The Trucks device is a ball hitting stance trainingdevice, which trains the batter in terms of an appropriate battingtechnique. Another reference can be found at Jackson, U.S. Patentpublication 2008/0102993. This Jackson reference is similar to the priorJackson patent but is different in similar respects from the currentapplication. None of the prior references teach the features of thecurrent application.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Baseball is a mental sport as much as a physical sport. The player mustdevelop the physical ability to hit a pitched ball but the batter mustalso be able to control his or her swing to hit into the most effectivearea of the playing field. For instance, if a runner is on second base,it may be beneficial to “hit behind the runner” to take advantage of aplayer's speed and maximize the opportunity to advance the runner intoscoring position. This type of hitting is a developed skill and is partof the physical as well as the mental game of baseball.

Just as important as being able to hit a ball is the ability to developpatience for the right pitch to achieve the desired result. Forinstance, if the goal is to hit behind the runner and the runner is onsecond base, the batter must be patient enough to wait for the rightpitch. A player's ability to foul off undesirable pitches is alsoimportant and this device will assist the player to perfect thatability. With this device the player can “Lock in” for the right pitchfor the situation.

One of the key aspects of baseball is the ability to hit and hit wellwith patience and discipline. As part of this ability to hit well, atrained batter should develop the skill to hit the pitch to a certainarea of the field. The development of this skill, of course, takestraining and practice. This aid is a device that will assist in thedevelopment and training of hitting skills.

The device will consist of a standard home plate and two batter's boxes.The batter's boxes will be off to the left and right respectively of theplate and will be slightly forward of the plate as well as slightlybehind the plate. A movable foot marker will be placed at the startingpoint of the lead (stride) foot. The player's lead foot would be placedin line with the foot marker so that there is a consistent startingpoint.

As the player starts his or her swing, the lead foot should proceedforward past marker placement. As the batter swings the bat, it is thebat speed which is created by the hip rotation that creates the power inthe swing. Proper placement and movement of the player's hips and torsoalong with hands, is critical to achieve a better chance of making goodcontact.

In baseball, there is a “straight pull” hitter, which will hit the ballmajority into the pull side of the field. If a player is a “straightpull” hitter the opposing team will develop strategies (such as a shiftof the infield players) to reduce the effectiveness of this type ofhitter. To be a complete hitter, one must hit a pitch in a particularlane to the area of the field that gives the best chance to besuccessful. This device will assist the hitter to be consistent at hisor her points of contact and allow the hitter to hit the ball to allareas of the field. and make the hitter much more.

This device will train the batter so that he or she can be on time whencontact is made while maintaining containment. The area of play shouldbe basically in the area outlined as areas A, B, C on the drawing formaximal affect within the lines that start from the back of the plateand cross the corners of the plate. The area that is formed by theselines and the optimal playing areas.

For purposes of clarification the description of the device and its usewill be for a right-handed hitter as well left-handed hitters.

Much of the discussion on this device centers on the player's ability tohit the ball in certain situations based on the contact zones and basedon situations that may arise during a game. However, this device canalso be used by a pitcher to direct pitches to different areas tominimize the batter's ability to hit the ball to the desired location. Apitcher's ability to select a pitch and direct that pitch to a certainarea of the plate is important to enable the pitcher to maximize his orher success during the game.

NUMBERING REFERENCES

-   -   5 Home Plate    -   10 Batter's Box    -   11 Inside Line    -   15 Foot positioning marker    -   20 Delineating line for the left part of the playing field    -   25 Delineating line for the right part of the playing field    -   A Left-center contact/hit zone    -   B Middle-center contact/hit zone    -   C Right-center contact/hit zone    -   D Foul territory contact/caution zone on the left side    -   E Foul territory contact/caution zone on the right side

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a depiction of the device from the top showing the differentzones of contact, the batter boxes, and the home plate.

DETAILED DESCRIPTIONS OF THE EMBODIMENTS

This device will teach a hitter the nuances of hitting. The device canbe used for baseball or softball and can be used by males or females.The device will assist the hitter in training the hitter to hit the ballin play and direct the ball into certain areas of the playing field. Theability of a player to hit to a desired area during a game is oftentimesimportant. For instance, if a runner is on first, the hitter may want to“hit behind the runner” and direct his hit to right field to advance therunner to third easier. If the ball is hit to left field with a runneron first the runner may need to stop at second because the ball has beenhit to left field as opposed to right.

Similarly, the device will train the batter to be patient and wait for acertain pitch. For instance, if the runner is on first and you aretrying to advance the runner and perhaps hit “behind the runner” a pitchon the inside of the plate for a right-handed batter is more difficultto hit to right field. The batter can train himself to foul off pitchesuntil he gets the desired placement.

As the batter approaches the home plate 5 and positions himself orherself in the batter's box, the batter will place his leading foot onthe foot positioning marker 15. The batter will stand in the batter'sbox 10 for the right-handed hitter. This foot positioning marker 15 isslightly to the inside of the batter's box adjacent to the line of theinterior line 11 of the batter's box adjacent to the plate such asdepicted in FIG. 1 . The foot positioning marker 15 is adjustable andcan be moved along the interior line 11 of the batter's box based on thehitter's preferences. The foot positioning marker 15 provides areference point for the lead foot of the batter.

The home plate 5 for baseball is a standard size and has two batters'boxes, one of the right side of the plate and one on the left side ofthe plate; each of the batter's boxes will have a leading edge and aninterior line 11 as well as a back edge (not depicted) and another sideedge (not depicted) that is parallel to the interior line 11 to form the“box”. The home plate has a front leading edge and two side paralleledges. At a point on the home plate the side edges will angle inward toform a point at the back of the home plate.

A pair of delineating lines 20 and 25 originate from the back of homeplate 5. The two lines meet at a point on the back of the plate andextend from the back of the home plate and cross the corners of homeplate at the top of the plate. The lines define the area of the playingfield into which the batter hopes to place a hit. The goal of the batteris to place the ball in play within the area that is defined by A, B andC and are formed by the delineating lines. Immediately forward of theplate are “impact zones” or “points of contact” that correspond to thedesired areas of play in A, B and C.

If the batter wants to practice his swing closer to the playing field,he or she can move the foot positioning marker closer to the playingfield in the batter's box; conversely, if the batter wants to practicehis swing closer to the catcher he or she can move the foot positioningmarker along the interior line of the batter's box away from the playingfield.

Although this device can be used to train the batter, the pitcher mayalso use it as a training aid as well. The goal of a pitcher is to throwa “strike” but position the ball so that it is difficult for the batterto place in the desired location. The pitcher should select a pitch thatcan be directed to an area of the plate which will minimize theproduction of the batter. The batter must have the discipline andpatience to determine the type of pitch and likely path of the ball anddetermine if the pitch is suitable based on the circumstances at thetime.

For purposes of this application, the application will describe theswing of a right/left handed hitter and this device can be used foranyone (male or female) who plays baseball or softball. The right-handedhitter positions himself with his front or lead foot on the footpositioning marker 15 in the batter's box 10. As the batter begins tostride into the pitch, the lead foot will travel slightly forward pastthe movable marker line in the batter's box. The batter's lead footshould not open away from the plate nor should the lead foot cross thebatter's box line in a direction toward the plate. The movement of thehitter's foot toward the plate or away from the plate will result inpoor production from the hitter. At the end of the swing the batter'slead foot should land slightly forward of the foot positioning markerwith his toes on the inside line 11 of the batter's box. Thispositioning of the lead foot will result in maximum production and thedesired hit placement.

This device will train the hitter to wait for the desired pitch andcontact the pitch in the appropriate contact zone to put the ball inplay in the desired area of play, either A, B or C. If the hittercontacts the pitch too early in the swing the ball will tend to travelfoul or toward the third baseman with a right-handed hitter into thearea that is designated as D. The batter must train his swing to contactthe ball to put the ball in play for the greatest advantage andplacement of the hit ball is critical.

Although this device is used to train a hitter, the device can also beused to help a pitcher with the proper placement. For instance, if thepitcher wants the batter to hit to the left side of the field, he or shewill direct pitches toward the inside of the plate. Conversely, if thepitcher knows a particular batter produces better hits with pitches inareas of the plate, the pitcher will avoid those areas.

Several different track and hit zones—A, B, C and D—are placed in thearea in front of the plate formed by an arch that is directly in frontof the plate. This arch contains the contact ready zone. The contactzones differentiate the areas of play for a particular hit. The contactzones will train the player to hit the ball into certain areas of theplaying field.

For instance, if the batter wants to put the ball in play in theleft-center area of the field the hitter would strive to make contactwith the pitch and force the ball into the “A” area of FIG. 1 . Thedevice will train the hitter to contact the ball at a certain point ofcontact to hit the ball to a particular area. The specific direction ofthe hit may depend on the circumstances at that time during the game orperhaps a perceived weakness in the defense.

Through repetition the hitter would train themselves to hit intodifferent areas. There would be designated contact zones so that theball can be put in play in the following areas: A—left center, B—middlecenter, C—right center, D—foul area to the left and E—foul area to theright.

During a turn at the plate it may become important to the hitter to waitfor a desired pitch in a desired place over the plate.

The device is a training aid, and it may be incorporated with a battingcage (not depicted). The batting cage partially surrounds the player butallows the player to put the ball to put the ball in the field of play.Cameras (not depicted) may be attached to the batting cage at differentlocations on the batting cage. These different areas may include the topof the cage or the sides of the batting cage. The use of cameras willallow the batter's swing to be recorded and instantly accessed after theswing.

The device is designed to be portable and withstand extremes inenvironments and weather.

1. A batter training aid which is comprised of: a home plate; whereinthe home plate has a predetermined shape; a batter's box on the rightside; wherein the batter's box on the right side has a predeterminedshape; wherein an interior line is placed on the batter's box adjacentto the home plate; a batter's box on the left side; wherein the batterbox on the left side has a predetermined shape; wherein an interior lineis placed on the batter's box on the left side; a foot positioningmarker; wherein the foot positioning marker provides a reference pointfor the lead foot of a batter; wherein the foot positioning marker isplaced adjacent to the home plate; a mat surface; wherein the matsurface displays a plurality of contact zones; wherein each of theplurality of contact zones display areas on a baseball field; aplurality of markers for the plurality of contact zones; wherein acontact zone for left-center is provided, wherein a contact zone formiddle-center is provided, wherein a contact zone for right-center isprovided, wherein a contact zone for a foul ball to the right isprovided, wherein a contact zone for a foul ball to the left isprovided.
 2. The batter training aid as described in claim 1 wherein thefoot positioning marker is movable.
 3. A batter training aid which iscomprised of: a home plate; wherein the home plate has a predeterminedshape; a batter's box on the right side; wherein the batter's box on theright side has a predetermined shape; wherein an interior line is placedon the batter's box adjacent to the home plate; a batter box on the leftside; wherein the batter box on the left side has a predetermined shape;wherein an interior line is placed on the batter's box adjacent to thehome plate; a foot positioning marker; wherein the foot positioningmarker provides a reference point for the lead foot of a batter; whereinthe foot positioning marker is placed adjacent to the home plate; a matsurface; wherein the mat surface displays a plurality of contact zones;wherein each of the plurality of contact zones display areas on abaseball field; a plurality of markers for a plurality of contact zones;wherein a contact zone for left-center is provided, wherein a contactzone for middle-center is provided, wherein a contact zone forright-center is provided, wherein a contact zone for a foul ball to theright is provided, wherein a contact zone for a foul ball to the left isprovided, a plurality of cameras on a batting cage; wherein theplurality of cameras are positioned to capture images of the player'sswing.
 4. The batter training aid as described in claim 3 wherein thefoot positioning marker is movable.
 5. The batter training aid asdescribed in claim 1 wherein the plurality of cameras is placed on thetop of the batting cage.
 6. The batter training aid as described inclaim 1 wherein the plurality of cameras are placed on the sides of thebatting cage.
 7. A method to use the batter training aid as described inclaim 1 which is comprised of the following steps: a batter enters abatter's box the batter positions his feet within the batter's box thebatter positions the foot positioning marker the batter determines theproper placement of the hit the batter determines that placement of thepitch the batter follows the travel of the ball as it approaches thebatter the batter tracks the movement of the ball the batter tracks themovement of the ball as it contacts the surface of a bat the battermakes contact within a contact zone the batter tracks the path of theball as the player follows the swing through the contact zone.